“I didn’t get into this job to shoot bears. I want to protect bears. I absolutely hate to go home and tell my seven-year-old that I shot a bear. That is not a good day for me.”
This telling statement was made by the Conservation Officer Service’s Sgt. Scott Norris to Lake Cowichan’s municipal council last week as he and WildSafe BC’s Todd Carnahan urged people to help them not have to kill bears.
Basically, it boils down to this message: Don’t feed the bears.
This seems like something that would go without saying, and yet it doesn’t.
Both men talked about how Cowichan Lake is a hot spot when it comes to bear problems, largely due to people leaving trash in a place where bears can get into it.
People may think they’re doing the right thing with storing their garbage in containers, but many of those containers are left outdoors, and are not bear proof.
Another problem is people leaving fruit on their fruit trees to drop. This essentially lures bears to an all-you-can-eat buffet. And there’s no need for it. If you can’t, or even just don’t want to, pick your own fruit, there are programs in the area such as FruitSave which will organize people to come and do it for you, and take the fruit away. There can be no excuse for not availing yourself of this option in the interests of both sharing the wealth in terms of food, and preventing a potentially fatal (for the bear) habituation.
If bears see your property as an easy food source, one can hardly blame them for repeat visits. Unfortunately, this isn’t safe for people, pets or wildlife.
When there are conflicts with wildlife such as bears hanging out too close to humans, it’s almost always the wildlife that loses, though sometimes not without a tragic outcome for the humans in the equation as well.
Particularly infuriating are the people who are deliberately feeding bears to become social media stars. Norris warned that they’re seeing a proliferation of this type of thing, as people see someone with a video posted of feeding wildlife such as bears, see the number of clicks it’s gotten, and copycat the idea.
This is incredibly stupid and destructive and must be stopped immediately.